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In a dramatic end to the season on Sunday, former Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld scored a stoppage-time equaliser to hand Royal Antwerp the Belgian title. With only minutes remaining in a three-way race for the title, Racing Genk and Union Saint-Gilloise were set to become league champions. However, Alderweireld’s strike in the 94th minute made it 2-2 at Genk, sparking wild celebrations as it was enough to give his hometown club their first title in 66 years.
Alderweireld, 34, joined Antwerp from Qatari side Al-Duhail last summer and said: “I have no words for this. Everyone wrote us off, we fought so hard for this. Everyone was against us, but we did it today.” Antwerp finished the season one point ahead of Genk and Union, who were set to become Belgian champions for the first time in 88 years having only ended a 48-year absence from the top flight in 2021.
In the 89th minute of the last championship play-off matches, Antwerp looked out of the race as they trailed 2-1 while Union were 1-0 up at home over Club Brugge. But Japanese striker Shion Homma equalised for an under-strength Brugge to thrust Genk, who only had an outside chance before kick-off, into pole position.
At Genk, six minutes of added time were indicated and in the fourth, Alderweireld fired into the top corner from 20 yards to stun the home crowd, with coach Mark van Bommel and some of his staff charging on to the field to celebrate as the former Belgium defender ran the length of the field in front of the Antwerp fans. Meanwhile, Union, owned by Brighton owner Tony Bloom, ultimately lost 3-1 as Brugge struck twice more in stoppage time.
Ex-Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld scored a stoppage-time equaliser to hand Royal Antwerp the Belgian title in a dramatic end to the season on Sunday. In the dying minutes of a three-way race for the title, Racing Genk and then Union Saint-Gilloise were set to become league champions. But Antwerp’s Alderweireld struck in the 94th minute to make it 2-2 at Genk and that sparked wild celebrations as it was enough to hand his hometown club their first title in 66 years.
Alderweireld, 34, joined Antwerp from Qatari side Al-Duhail last summer and said: “I have no words for this. Everyone wrote us off, we fought so hard for this. Everyone was against us, but we did it today.” Antwerp finished the season one point ahead of Genk and Union, who were set to become Belgian champions for the first time in 88 years having only ended a 48-year absence from the top flight in 2021.
In the 89th minute of the last championship play-off matches, Antwerp looked out of the race as they trailed 2-1 while Union were 1-0 up at home over Club Brugge. But Japanese striker Shion Homma equalised for an under-strength Brugge to thrust Genk, who only had an outside chance before kick-off, into pole position. At Genk, six minutes of added time were indicated and in the fourth, Alderweireld fired into the top corner from 20 yards to stun the home crowd, with coach Mark van Bommel and some of his staff charging on to the field to celebrate as the former Belgium defender ran the length of the field in front of the Antwerp fans. Meanwhile, Union, owned by Brighton owner Tony Bloom, ultimately lost 3-1 as Brugge struck twice more in stoppage time.
Ex-Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld scored a stoppage-time equaliser to hand Royal Antwerp an unlikely Belgian title in a dramatic end to the season on Sunday. In the dying minutes of a three-way race for the title, Racing Genk and then Union Saint-Gilloise were set to become league champions. But Antwerp’s Alderweireld struck in the 94th minute to make it 2-2 at Genk and that sparked wild celebrations as it was enough to hand his hometown club their first title in 66 years.
Alderweireld, 34, joined Antwerp from Qatari side Al-Duhail last summer and said: “I have no words for this. Everyone wrote us off, we fought so hard for this. Everyone was against us, but we did it today.” Antwerp finished the season one point ahead of Genk and Union, who were set to become Belgian champions for the first time in 88 years having only ended a 48-year absence from the top flight in 2021.
In the 89th minute of the last championship play-off matches, Antwerp looked out of the race as they trailed 2-1 while Union were 1-0 up at home over Club Brugge. But Japanese striker Shion Homma equalised for an under-strength Brugge to thrust Genk, who only had an outside chance before kick-off, into pole position. At Genk, six minutes of added time were indicated and in the fourth, Alderweireld fired into the top corner from 20 yards to stun the home crowd, with coach Mark van Bommel and some of his staff charging on to the field to celebrate as the former Belgium defender ran the length of the field in front of the Antwerp fans. Meanwhile, Union, owned by Brighton owner Tony Bloom, ultimately lost 3-1 as Brugge struck twice more in stoppage time.
In a dramatic end to the season on Sunday, former Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld scored a stoppage-time equaliser to hand Royal Antwerp an unlikely Belgian title. With only minutes remaining in a three-way race for the title, Racing Genk and Union Saint-Gilloise were set to become league champions. However, Alderweireld’s strike in the 94th minute made it 2-2 at Genk and that sparked wild celebrations as it was enough to give his hometown club their first title in 66 years.
Alderweireld joined Antwerp from Qatari side Al-Duhail last summer and said: “I have no words for this. Everyone wrote us off, we fought so hard for this. Everyone was against us, but we did it today.” Antwerp finished the season one point ahead of Genk and Union, who were set to become Belgian champions for the first time in 88 years having only ended a 48-year absence from the top flight in 2021.
In the 89th minute of the last championship play-off matches, Antwerp looked out of the race as they trailed 2-1 while Union were 1-0 up at home over Club Brugge. But Japanese striker Shion Homma equalised for an under-strength Brugge to thrust Genk, who only had an outside chance before kick-off, into pole position. At Genk, six minutes of added time were indicated and in the fourth, Alderweireld fired into the top corner from 20 yards to stun the home crowd, with coach Mark van Bommel and some of his staff charging on to the field to celebrate as the former Belgium defender ran the length of the field in front of the Antwerp fans. Meanwhile, Union, owned by Brighton owner Tony Bloom, ultimately lost 3-1 as Brugge struck twice more in stoppage time.
The result meant that Royal Antwerp had won their first Belgian title in 66 years thanks to Toby Alderweireld’s stoppage time equaliser. Despite being written off by many and facing opposition from all sides, they managed to pull off an unlikely victory against all odds and secure their place at the top of Belgian football.